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Sunday, July 25, 2pm
A.B. Spellman is a highly respected retired National Endowment for the Arts Deputy Chairman for whom, in 2005, the NEA named one of its prestigious Jazz Masters awards –– the “A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy.” A jazz historian and poet, he has written several books including, Four Lives in the Bebop Business and Art Tatum: A Critical Biography, as well as poetry collections, including The Beautiful Days and his 2008 publication, Things I Must Have Known. Appearing at the New Mexico Jazz Festival since its inception in 2006, this year marks the fifth that Mr. Spellman has hosted a Meet the Artist event for the Festival. This year he will speak, in informal discussion, with NEA Jazz Master Toshiko Akiyoshi.
NEA Jazz Master, Toshiko Akiyoshi is a Japanese American jazz pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader who, over the course of a six-decade career, has made a unique and vital contribution to the art of big band jazz. A major figure in jazz composition, she has received 14 Grammy nominations and holds the honor of being the first woman to win the Best Arranger and Composer awards in Down Beat magazine’s Readers Poll. Her music is distinctive for its textures and Japanese influence merged with a strong jazz base. In 1984, she was the subject of a documentary film entitled Jazz Is My Native Language and was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2007. Akiyoshi formed her first big band in the early 1970s in Los Angeles with her husband, saxophonist/flutist Lew Tabackin. They later relocated to New York City and reformed the band, the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra. They later relocated to New York City and reformed the band, the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra. This event is supported by NEA Jazz Masters Live, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. FREE
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